


Reality Shift

by f_romanoff_13



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Family, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26461618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/f_romanoff_13/pseuds/f_romanoff_13
Summary: The Avengers family BBQ is interrupted by some news.The X-Men have been working to shut down every last branch of Alchemax Genetics; the company responsible for experimenting with the DNA of superheroes in order to create and sell clones. The same people responsible for X-23. The Avengers have been helping and they thought they were finished.That is until they find another lab, a lab experimenting on the DNA of two Avengers...
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> Marvel own all rights to the characters.  
> The OCs featured in this story are my own. 
> 
> I have no beta, all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! If you do please leave comments and kudos; they make an authors day!

Tony groaned as he was awoken far earlier than he had planned. 

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! It's time to get up!" 

He opened one eye and looked over at the alarm clock, "It's a bit early, Squirt" 

"But it's five past eight..." Morgan frowned, pointing to the digital numbers on the clock as she read them. 

Tony couldn't help but smile, climbing out of bed and scooping his daughter into his arms, taking her out into the kitchen so as not to wake Pepper. "It's eight minutes past five" he corrected, swinging her up over his shoulder and making her laugh now they were out of earshot of anyone sleeping. 

The Avengers Facility was full to capacity at the moment. Several of the team having taken up permanent residence while others came and went as needed. Today, however, was the last day of summer before Peter and several Avenger's children went back to school; not only Morgan Stark, but Cassie Lang and Danielle Cage. It had been Morgan's idea, and after she'd made and given out invitations to the Avengers living in the compound, Tony had decided he didn't really have a choice but to go along... And so today had become known as 'The Avengers Family Summer BBQ'

"What do you say, Little Miss? Pancakes for breakfast?" Tony asked as they reached the kitchen, the smell of coffee greeting Tony

"Waffles?" Morgan asked, still hanging over his shoulder

"Definitely waffles..." came a familiar voice 

"Auntie Hope!" Morgan grinned, running over to the sofa the moment Tony released her from his grasp. "Did Lizzie wake you up? Daddy says it's too early for any sane person to be awake..."

Hope laughed and nodded, reaching over to brush Morgan's hair out of her face from her position on the sofa, legs tucked up beside her with a sleeping baby lay against her chest. 

The three of them looked up as they heard talking down the hallway, "What are you two doing up?" Tony asked as Steve and Natasha entered the kitchen. Steve glanced at them, surprised to see anyone else awake. Natasha took advantage of Hope's early rise and helped herself to a mug of coffee. 

"Morning run" Natasha answered, taking a seat beside Hope and hugging Morgan as the young girl climbed onto her lap. 

"At this time?" Tony asked, bewildered that anyone would get up this early, never mind with the intention to run

"We're waiting on Sam, he overslept" Steve replied, glancing at his watch before grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl Pepper insisted was kept stocked. 

"Waffles for three it is" Tony shrugged 

Tony set to work in the kitchen, making breakfast for himself, Morgan and Hope when he was startled by a voice from above; 

"To-To! Me waffles?" 

He looked up to see the only super powered child currently in residence. Blonde haired and blue eyed, the toddler smiled at him hopefully, "pretty please?" he added, taking a seat directly above Tony. It would have been a little unnerving if Tony hadn't been used to Gerry's preference for the ceiling to the floor. 

"Sure thing Ger-Bear. One more waffle coming up... Where's your M-"

His question became unnecessary when Jessica joined them with a yawn, making a beeline for the freshly brewed coffee. "Why don't kids like sleep?" she asked the other two adults; noting that they were both parents and had probably also been woken by their children. The difference was, Tony had Pepper and Hope had Scott... Jessica Drew was parenting alone and as such, rarely got a lie in.

It wasn't long before the three adults and two children were eating waffles, Hope expertly eating one handed as she held her sleeping daughter. Elizabeth was almost three months old and since her arrival, Hope had learned to do an awful lot with only one hand. 

Jessica cleared the table and wiped Gerry's face free from chocolate sauce before he ran off to play with Morgan. 

"Come on, Baby Bumble, let your Mom finish her breakfast" Tony said as she took the baby carefully into his arms. 

Hope smiled over at Tony, "you know 'Baby Bumble' was supposed to be a nickname until she had an actual name?.." she commented with a small grin, though Hope had always thought the nickname would stick around. 

Tony shrugged, holding Lizzie in a way that he could peer down at her; she looked so very much like Hope. "Hey, I named my kid after you, I think I should get to call yours the adorable nickname I devised for her" 

"Morgan Hope Stark" the young girl announced proudly from the other side of the room; as if Hope didn't already know her middle name, before she returned to her game. 

Hope finished her breakfast watching Tony cradle Lizzie. He remembered holding Hope when she'd been this small. Back when their families had been close... He remembered being seven years old, sat next to Janet as she placed the crying baby in his arms. Tony hadn't been so thrilled about it, until the baby had stopped crying and looked up at him with wide, green eyes. From that very moment, Tony had felt like an older brother to Hope.

They'd grown up together. Spent the summers with Aunt Peggy. Tony had taught Hope to read and helped her learn to ride a bike... The two of them had been inseparable until tragedy had stuck their families; when Janet dies and Hank sent Hope away to boarding school. 

Natasha, Steve and Sam returned from their run, while other Avengers gradually joined the growing crowd in the communal area of the facility; Scott, Carol, Wanda, Clint and Bruce eventually woke and Peter arrived from the city with Luke, Jessica and Danielle. 

"Daddy, is Peter coming?" Morgan shouted across the room.

"I'm right here, Morgan" Peter waved from where he was introducing Aunt May to the others

"Not _you_ Peter" Morgan clarified with a fond grin 

"Groot!" Gerry shouted, waving his Guardian's action figures, startled away from his question as Stephen Strange stepped into the centre of the room through a portal. 

Tony's phone began to ring. He glanced to Pepper who shook her head, telling him not to answer it. 

But everyone at Stark Industries knew not to contact him today. Shield knew they were on a day off. It had been organised weeks ago. Unless the world was ending, the X-Men and Fantastic Four were on call to cover them. One day. They could have one day... Couldn't they?

He stepped out of the communal area and slipped inside Pepper's empty office and answered.

"This better be an emergency-"

"Stark?"

"- _Logan?.."_

"Listen, I need to talk to you"

"Sounds ominous. You know this is our day off right?"

"It's Project Athena..."

Tony paused for a moment, mentally catching himself up. Following the discovery that Logan's DNA had been used to create a child; a child who had been raised and trained in a lab to be nothing more than a ruthless assassin. The X-Men had been working to shut down every last avenue which had helped finance, run and hide the work of Alchemax Genetics. Shield had become involved and even the Avengers had helped out on occasion. It had gone a long way to mending some broken bridges between the two teams and their work had helped a lot of children find homes with loving families rather than spending a lifetime of experimentation and exploitation. 

But as far as Tony knew, they were done with Athena. Shield was helping with some of the clean up; both legally, and also assisting in finding families for the children who had yet to be placed.

"I thought we were wrapped on that?" Tony asked, uneasily

"We found one more lab, up in Alaska. Outsourcing, primarily for financial gains. A bunch of rich guys mostly paying to clone their dead dogs or long lost grannies..."

Tony really didn't like where this was going. "Mostly?" 

"Mostly" Logan repeated, the tone to his voice confirming to Tony that he wasn't going to like what he was about to say. 

"Did you try Cap? I know I pay for everything but really he's the boss here..."

"I'm not calling about a mission Stark. I'm calling for advice"

"You really want mine?"

"Stark. AIM paid a lot of money to this facility. They were on their way to creating their very own army of super spies... The paid Alchemax for a prototype. 'Project R'.  
They've been experimenting with the DNA of Shield's top agents"

"This sounds like a Shield matter, Logan"

"Tony. Shield's best agents, are also Avengers..."


	2. ii

Tony re-entered the large communal area of the Avengers Facility, where most of the team and their families were gathered; chatting, playing and enjoying breakfast. 

Morgan was laughing as she was thrown around by Clint; Carol hovered in the air, playing with Gerry who ran across the ceiling far faster than any toddler should be able to move. Sam and Scott talked baseball while Cassie told Bruce about her school trip to the zoo. Hope sipped at her coffee while Wanda stole her sleeping baby for cuddles. In the corner, away from the chaos, Pepper typed an email reply on her laptop while Steve and Natasha stole a brief moment to study some blueprints; laid out on a small coffee table as they worked on formulating escape routes and a plan for entry for an upcoming stealth mission.

"Romanoff, Barton. Can I speak with you a second?" Tony announced, hoping those not addressed would continue with their tasks and conversations.  
Several faces turned to look over to him as silence spread through the room, broken only by a squeal of excitement as Gerry dropped his juice cup and Jessica caught it before it hit the floor.

"What's this about, Stark?" Natasha asked, one of the few people who hadn't looked over to him, her green gaze fixed on the maps and prints on the table in front of her.

"I would really rather do this in private" Tony told her, hoping for her own sake that she agreed.  
Clint smiled reassuringly at Morgan, who was looking up at him worriedly, before he playfully dropped her into Peter's arms and joined Tony out of the room. Natasha reluctantly followed.

Tony had done a little digging of his own following his conversation with Logan and Shield had sent over the relevant files. He took a seat at Pepper's desk, borrowing it briefly for this occasion; Clint took a seat opposite but Natasha remained standing, lingering by the door despite the chair that sat empty.

"What's this about Tony?" she asked, not unkindly. But with a familiar _'don't waste my time'_ tone to her words.

"Project Athena turned up another lab..." he began, repeating the details Logan had provided.  
Tony explained AIM's involvement, he described Project R and carefully laid out what this meant for the pair of assassins. Logan's words echoed in his head as Clint and Natasha remained in silence; processing the bombshell Tony had just dropped. 

_" Why me, Logan?.." Tony had asked. Why had he left this news with him to break... Surely this would be better coming from Cap, or Coulson..._

_"Cap. Phil... They're going to tell them, regardless of the consequences; honest and transparent. Fury, probably Hill too. They'd hide the truth. For the sake of Shield, for the sake of keeping their Agents active and engaged... I need someone to decide what's best for Romanoff and Barton. Would they want to know? Even if they decide to do nothing about it. Or is it better for them to go on, living their lives, never knowing a thing has changed?"_

_Tony sighed, it was an awful weight to carry. "If you didn't know about Laura? Would you want someone to tell you?" he'd asked._

_"I'm better for knowing she exists" Logan had answered honestly, "but sometimes I wonder if she'd had been better off not knowing me" he'd added regretfully._

Tony had considered his options for a short while. But deep down, he knew what he needed to do. The pair of spies had spent more of their lives being controlled, ordered, instructed, than anyone else he knew. This was their decision to make.  
And so here they were...

"You're saying they cloned us?" Clint asked eventually, eyeing the closed manilla file on his desk.

"Not exactly" Tony replied with a small sigh, momentarily catching Natasha's gaze. 

Tony opened the file labelled 'Project R', revealing pages and pages of text. And a single photograph...   
The tiny girl in the photo was three or four, staring straight at the camera. There was no smile on her face, but her gaze held a fierceness Tony had only ever seen in one person before. Her eyes were a deep, bright blue, her shoulder length strawberry blonde hair; a mass of curls around her ears. She was the most beautiful little girl...   
Clint reached over to take the photograph, unable to tear his gaze away. 

"They mixed your DNA" Tony said quietly. "Biologically speaking, she's your daughter" he summarised needlessly. Clint had know the moment he'd seen that photo. Natasha had figured it out the moment Tony had called them into the office and mentioned Athena. 

"They were part way through adoption proceedings before they realised who she was. Everything's on hold at the moment... Until you decide what you want to do" he told them before standing. He squeezed Clint's shoulder as he passed, pausing in front of Natasha but with a loss for words, moved on. 

"I'll be right outside if you need anything" Tony assured them, before leaving them alone in Pepper's office to discuss the news. To be alone. To make a decision...


	3. iii

Clint sat in silence, allowing his partner to deal with the news in her own time. 

He had known her since she was seventeen, had been paired with her from day one. They'd dated, broken up and dated again. He'd proposed three times before she'd finally accepted. They'd married against Shields wishes, and this winter would be their tenth wedding anniversary. Clint knew Natasha better than anyone... And he knew how much this revelation hurt her. 

Clint had always wanted children. It had never been a secret. 

Conversely, Natasha had been raised to treat her body as a weapon. Peak physical fitness was the only option. She had confided in Clint once about one of the older girls in the Red Room. Her name was Melina and there was a rumour circulating that she was pregnant, one night when Natasha had been nine, she'd been woken by the muffled sobs of Melina as she'd been lead from her bed. No one saw her again and no one was ever allowed to ask. The Red Room taught her than pregnancy left her vulnerable, a child was a liability. Under no circumstances could a Red Room Agent become compromised... And then they took that option from her anyway. 

More than once she'd walked away from their relationship in an attempt to allow Clint to find someone who could give him the family he wanted, the family she thought he deserved. But he'd always assured her, with or without a child, _she_ was his family. _She_ was who he wanted, above all else. 

But he had seen the look on her face when Pepper, Jess and Hope had announced their pregnancies; a momentary flash of jealousy, sadness and regret. Blink and you'd miss it. No matter how long ago she'd accepted she'd never be a mother, no matter how much she loved her role as 'Aunt Tasha'... Clint knew that especially now, with their lives as Avengers and the freedom it gave them, she wished it could be different. 

And now here was their chance. A little girl, who looked exactly like he'd always imagined; a perfect combination of the two of them. They were being asked to decide whether to raise the daughter who'd been created in a lab, without their consent, and spent the first few year of her life without them under who knew what circumstances... Or to move on, continue as they were and let her live a normal life, hoping that the people who took her in would love her as much as them. 

Clint thought back to the seventeen year old he'd tracked to a snowy rooftop in Budapest... The red curls and fierce gaze and unsmiling face that watched him as her world changed before her. He'd asked her then, to make a choice. She'd taken a leap of faith, and he'd jumped with her. He liked to think she had no regrets... Now that same face looked at him from the photo in his hands, and Clint knew he had to ask Natasha to do it all over again; to take a leap of faith. To change both of their lives forever...


End file.
